Chapter Seventy-five

Claire pushed down her fear and called out to the attackers. "Don't hurt them, I'll come with you!"
"Your Highness!" Tyler exclaimed in disbelief, nearly losing his hold on his gun.
Rosie held on tightly to Claire’s hand, "You can't do that, Luna Claire!" She said, near tears.
The attacker that had been engaging Tyler in a conversation all this while laughed at this, it was a chilling sound. "You're not in the best of spots to be bargaining, Your Highness." He said the title like an epithet, it held the same venom of a loaded gun.
"I can't let you do that, Your Highness. " Tyler said in a measured voice, stepping out from behind the car.
"Tyler!" Claire called out, trying to stop him.
Rosie didn't let her do that, holding on tightly to Claire so they remained in the cover of the car.
Tyler had his gun steadily fixed on the werewolf who seemed to be the leader of the operation. "If you make any funny moves, I'll blow your brains out." He said in a voice that was as steady as his aim, although his fingers and blood were ice cold.
The lead werewolf slowly walked forward, unfazed although the barrel of a gun was pointing down at him. He was a towering man, dressed in a black, a mask over his head. When he walked up to Tyler, the bodyguard's gun pointed right at his heart.
"Why don't you go ahead?" He taunted him, brown eyes gleaming through the holes in his mask. "I'll even give you the first shot."
Tyler didn't hesitate, pulling the trigger. That was the last thing he remembered doing, the next moment he was falling over to the ground, his vision immediately going dark.
The lead werewolf clicked his tongue in displeasure, he had barely elbowed the bodyguard's arm away in time. Sure, he was wearing a bulletproof vest but a shot from that close would still hurt like a bitch.
He hadn't expected the bodyguard to make such a stupid move when he was literally surrounded. He didn't shoot him however, he had merely hit him across his head with the butt of his gun.
It was stupid but he could respect a werewolf that refused to surrender and instead chose to die fighting. Even if his reason was something as stupid as a random human woman.
He stepped over the unconscious body of the bodyguard and walked around the car to find two women dressed for an event cowering behind it. His expression twisted under his mask when he noticed that the human was protecting the werewolf behind her.
"Not trying to make a bargain anymore?" He taunted, keeping his weapon drawn. Roman had said that he shouldn't let the human have even a scratch on her, and it made him scowl, why did he have to treat her so specially?
She was human, she was one of the people that treated his kind like they were lesser. She was the enemy.
Claire said nothing, eyeing the monstrously tall werewolf standing in front of her with wariness in her leaf green eyes. She hid Rosie behind her, praying that her assistant didn't pass out cold from fear. She needed her to call for help after Claire was taken away.
"Thought as much." The werewolf grumbled, crooking a finger at her. "Come here."
Claire made a move to step forward, only to get halted by Rosie who was clutching onto her for dear life. Claire was terrified, so much so that it felt like she had forgotten how to breath but she didn't want Rosie to get hurt as well.
With their current position, there was no way help would come in time. Even if Rosie were to sacrifice herself much like Tyler did, she would only get herself hurt and Claire would still be taken away.
It would just be delaying the inevitable, with horrific consequences too. So she pried Rosie’s hands off her, "I'll be fine, Rosie, just take deep breaths." She whispered to her near-hyperventilating assistant, trying to reassure her.
Rosie looked up at this point, tears gleaming in her hazel eyes. "Lu-Luna Claire," She stuttered, her words choking her.
Claire finally got Rosie’s hands off her arm, managing a strained smile. "They won't hurt you, I need you to call for help after I'm gone." She continued in that soft voice, gingerly stepping forward. The side walk was uneven and she was still wearing heels.
The moment she stepped within armslength of the werewolf, he grabbed her arm and yanked her closer, his grip cruel.
"Luna Claire!" Rosie called out, stricken.
The werewolf leveled his gun on her, "Shut it." He said in a cold voice, making Rosie fearfully cover her mouth with both palms.
"Take out your phone." He added, calming down somewhat at how obedient Rosie was being. The other men remained in alert positions, their weapons held offensively while they stayed on the lookout.
Rosie fumbled for a bit, her hands were trembling so hard that she could barely take her phone out of bag. She finally managed to bring it out, nearly dropping it from how hard her hands were shaking.
"Hold it up," The werewolf said, his voice a couple degrees softer.
Rosie did as she was directed, barely keeping the phone upright.
Without warning, he shot right through the phone she held up, startling Rosie so much that her knees went weak and she crumbled to the ground with a strangled sound.
"Rosie!" Claire called in a panic, trying to hurry back to Rosie so that she could check up on her.
She didn't get anywhere though because the werewolf who still had a cruel grip on her arm pulled her with him like she was a sack of rocks, handling her very roughly.
"If you try to get away again, I'll shoot both of your legs." He said in a cold voice, a very different tone from the one he had used with Rosie.
Claire had no choice but to obey, struggling to keep up with the fast pace he set in her heels. She hoped Rosie would be okay, she didn't think that her sweet assistant had been shot but her panic didn't ease.
She was dragged all the way across the road, the rest of the attackers following behind them. When they got to the other side of the road, their journey continued and Claire was forced to walk across uneven ground as they crossed over to the other street where their vehicles had been packed.
The entire time, her heart beat so hard that she feared that she would faint. But she managed to make it to their destination.
After she was dragged all the way to one of the cars, the werewolf holding her captive roughly shoved her into the car, uncaring for her safety. The interior of the car was dark and to her horror, the werewolf got into the car beside her.
She wasn't even given the chance to think, after the door was shut, plunging the car in darkness due to the windows being tinted black, a cloth was placed over her face.
Struggling was futile because the werewolf was far too strong but she gave an effort anyway, her struggles were brief, a faint sweet smell emanating from the cloth pressed to her face.
Although it was dark, Claire could tell when her vision started to swim, strength leaving her limbs. Her eyes slipped shut as she started to lose consciousness, the last thing she heard as she started to lose consciousness was a flurry of gunshots.